Allow us to answer this question
according to our understanding of
God's word.
We are all, I trust,
willing to learn more, and also to
give up former ideas when a "Thus
saith the Lord," understood, makes it
necessary.
When light increases we
may see differently; and may we
have grace in the future, as in the
past, to confess our mistakes as they
become apparent.
At present we
have a decided objection to the idea
that the "Father, as distinct from
the Son," will raise the dead, or do
anything else which is a part of the
plan of salvation.
We believe the
work that was done before the incarnation
was, in a peculiar sense,
the Father's work, and the "Word
was made flesh" to "finish His
(Father's) work." (John 4:34.)
The finishing work was the harvest, and, so far as related to the Jews,
in favor, it ended when Jesus
had left their house desolate and
said, "It is finished."
Unless we
are much mistaken the "Word"
was not called the Son until the incarnation.
The Son was called
"EmmanuelGod with us." Matt. 1:23.
"God was manifest in the
flesh." 1 Tim. 3:16.
"All power
is given unto me in heaven and
in earth." Matt. 28:18.
"It
pleased the Father that in him (the
Son) should all fullness dwell""all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Col. 1:19, and 2:9.
From these and
other testimonies we believe that
"God is in Christ," so that all that
God does is through Christ, as mediator,
and all that Christ does is by
the power of the Father given Him.
Hence he could say, "I and my
Father are one," and "He that hath
seen me hath seen the Father."
But
as the Father gave him the power
He could also say, "My Father is
greater than I."

With the prayer in our hearts that
the "Spirit of Truth" will help in
"rightly dividing the word," let us
look at John 5:21, which is thought
by some to be a "Thus saith the
Lord" for the idea that the "Father
as distinct from the Son" will raise
not only a part but all of the dead.

"As the Father raiseth up the
dead and quickeneth them, even so
the Son quickeneth whom He will."
If the quickening by the Son refers
to the work of elevating after the resurrection,
the Son will have nothing
to do, for the Father quickens all
He raises.
To quicken is to make
alive, and the double statement gives
emphasis to the idea of life by resurrection
(modern resurrectionists
do not give life).
A careful reading
of the context instead of confirming
the assumption that the Father, separately,
will raise the dead, will show
that the work is committed by the
Father into the hands of the Son.
The plan of the ages will help in
dividing the word.

The closing work of the Jewish
age was the turning point between
the work of the Father and of the
Son.
"My Father worketh HITHERTO,
and [now] I work." Ver. 17.

Raising the dead may well be regarded
as the climax of physical
healing.
He that can do the greater
can certainly do the less.
And if
Christ has not the power over physical
death, he could not heal a
single disease or save any person
from dying.
Before the incarnation
the Father healed disease and raised
the dead, but, says Jesus, "The
hour is coming and now is (The harvest
of the Jewish age was the dawn
of the Gospel age) when the dead
shall hear the voice of the SON of
God, and they that hear shall live."
(Ver. 25.)
True, "the Son can do
nothing of himself." (Ver. 19.)
The
Father shows the Son (Ver. 20), so
that what the Father can do the Son
can do also (Ver. 21); after which
the Son does the work (Ver. 22).
"That all men should honor the
Son even as they honor the Father."
(Ver. 23.)

"As the Father hath life in himself,
so hath He given to the Son to
have life in himself; and hath given
him authority to execute judgment
also, because he is the Son of Man."
(vs. 26,27.)
Now that the life and power are given to Christ, do not be
surprised if He exercises his power in giving the life.

[NOTEDo not think because
Christ was dealing with physical
diseases and death, that therefore
we imagine his work was confined to
physical things "All power" (physical
and spiritual) belongs to Christ,
and the object of physical benefits is
that men thus saved may "come to
the knowledge of the truth."
The
natural is the type and steppingstone
to the spiritual].

He exercised that power in the
raising of Lazarus, the widow's son,
and Jairus' daughter; and not only
during his earthly life and ministry
but after his exaltation, also, the "Name of Jesus," by the Apostles,
wrought wonderful cures, and
brought the dead back to natural
life again.
Not in their own name,
nor in the name of the Father, but
in the name of the Lord Jesus, be it
remembered, these cures were done.
The reason is obvious, as they were
acting under a commission from
him who had said, "All power is
given to ME in Heaven and earth."
In the exercise of this power Christ,
as the head of the anti-typical Elias,
will in due time "restore all things."
"Marvel not at this, for the hour is
coming in the which all that are in
their graves shall hear HIS voice and
shall come forth." John 5:28,29.
The context shows that the pronoun
"his" in the above refers to the Son
and not to the Father.

True, "merely" a resurrection is
not all that is involved in a "Restitution
of all things," but it is certainly included in that work, and it
seems as if all might see that Christ's
work as head of an immortal race is
over and above his work as Redeemeror restoring what was lost
in Adam.
Before Christ could complete
the work of bringing man to
the image of God, He must redeem
man from death, as all the Father
had done for man was lost by sin.
Hence we are dependent on Christ
for both "life and immortality,"
which are "brought to light through
the Gospel." 2 Tim. 1:10.
The recovery
is by the ransom, and the glorification
is by the light, "to all
them that obey him."
If it be remembered
that it is "God in Christ reconciling the world to himself,"
it will be seen that we honor both the Father and the Son, and there
will be no more difficulty in harmonizing
the statements: "I will
raise him up at the last day," John 6:40 and "He that raised up Christ
from the dead shall also quicken
your mortal bodies." Rom. 8:11.
Both are by the same spirit which,
in the ninth verse, is called the
"Spirit of God," and also the
"Spirit of Christ."
So, also, Jesus
could say, "I have power to lay
down my life, and I have power to
take it again." John 10:18: and
Peter could say truly, "God raised
him from the dead." Acts 3:15.

It is to be hoped that none will for
the sake of propping up a new idea reject an old truth.

[I would not impugn the motives of any who differ, but we should
guard against a tendency to unconsciouslystrain a passage to make it
help prove a new theory.
This is
often done without realizing that
well established truths are belittled.
We would unlearn our errors but
hold fast to truths.]

When Jesus was raised it was by
the Spirit, and therefore not in the
flesh, for "That which is born of the
Spirit is Spirit." John 3:6; and
when the Saints are raised "it is
raised a spiritual body" for the same
reason.
Truly we have a right to
exclaim: "Thanks be unto GOD, who
giveth us the VICTORY THROUGH OUR
LORD JESUS CHRIST." 1 Cor. 15:5,7.